New state crossbow record?

Calhoun County crossbow hunter, George “Ike” Swan Jr. shot a 14-point buck that should be the new state record for nontypical crossbow kills. Ironically, Ike has shot traditional longbows for most of his life and would have loved to have gotten this great buck with traditional gear but he had to give up this practice due to numerous injuries and surgeries to his shoulder and back.

Swan stated he has been after this particular buck for the past three years and finally succeeded in taking him on October 6, 2010. Ike said, “I saw this buck on three different occasions in the early season and he was always just out of reach. So I decided to take a chance and move into his bedding area where I positioned myself on the ground amongst a group of cherry trees. The buck came browsing out with his bachelor group companions, a 6-point and large 10-point. He gave me the perfect shot at 26 paces. I double lunged him and watched him go down within 50 paces. After the shot I lost control and cried like a baby. I was shaking so bad it made it hard for me to walk.”

What Ike had the privilege to walk up on was a nontypical, seven by seven that carries tremendous mass and palmated main beams. There is a six inch drop-tine protruding off the left beam and kicker points coming off both G-3s. Its inside-spread measures 23 4/8″. The brow tines are simply huge and the right measures 9 7/8 inches while the left measures 10 3/8 inches.

Ike is an official measure for Commemorative Bucks of Michigan and he green scored the buck, coming up with a gross total of 203 4/8 and the net is 196 6/8 Boone and Crockett points. After the 60 day drying period, Ike states that he wants Lonnie Buck to officially score his trophy, and at that time it should become the new state record nontypical crossbow kill. The current record was shot by Richard L. Miller in 2004 and scores 155 5/8.

The 52 year old Swan is a whitetail hunting veteran and he has twenty Pope and Young heads lining the walls of his trophy room. Not yet mounted is a 9-point buck that he shot last year that shares characteristics with this year’s 14-point and Ike believes that last year’s kill is the son of this year’s buck. Ike contributes year-round scouting as a key to success and has a basket full of sheds in his basement which are all properly marked with the year that they were found.

Calhoun County is no stranger to state record nontypicals. This county already holds two state nontypical whitetail records. In 2005 Dan Farmer captured the youth archery record with a buck scoring 193 3/8 Pope and Young points and in 2007 Tim Tackett shot the state record muzzle loader buck that scores 215 1/8 Boone and Crockett points.